I believe there is some bugs in the Lending API of bitfinex. I was unable to make a new lending offer by POST method to
https://api.bitfinex.com/v1/offer/new. Here are the situations.
1. The API documentation stated that insurance_option is optional. However, when this parameter is omitted, HTTP 500 error is returned.
2. I can get a response with insurance_option specified, but the response is always "Invalid offer: not enough balance". I have checked using the wallet balances API to make sure there is enough balance and also make sure that the amount is greater than the minimum lending amount (100USD).
Any updates on this? I have contacted
support@bitfinex.com 2 times on this issue and so far no response for a few weeks.
The insurance option was set up after the April 10th crash in order to give full protection to liquidity providers (LP).
An LP that buys insurance pays an extra 20% commission ( 30% instead of 10%) but will be refunded also in case of a "black swan" event.
Should the BTC price collapse from the actual value to 0 within an eyeblink, insured LP will still get refunded in full.
Unfortunately the total amount is limited to about 55,000 usd ( it grows as 15% of the extra 20% taken as commission is re-invested in the fund, 5% goes to the person that set up the fund).
55,000 usd has to be considered in total, not per person.
First in, first served.
No need to say that this amount is always taken in full 99% of the time.
That is why you get the response "not enough balance".
The API documentation states that insurance is optional, not that the parameter can be omitted.
I hope this helps
Have a good day
Giancarlo
Bitfinex Team